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dEditor, Asbury Park Sun,

We are concerned that we have seen more rip currents this year and more people have died as a result.

[Rip currents have killed eight people at New Jersey beaches this year — the most since the National Weather Service began tracking rip current-related fatalities in 1998. The second-highest was six deaths in 2008 with the third-highest in 2012 with five deaths.]

We believe we should do more to investigate the cause of the rip tides so more people can enjoy the summer instead of risking their lives. A major part of the problem is a combination of more severe weather events and all of the beach replenishment projects we have down along the coast. While we are seeing hotter summers, and more tropical storms coming up our coast, man is also changing our beaches. We really need to look at the consequences to beach replenishment and how man is manufacturing our beaches. We are concerned that the Army Corps of Engineers were supposed to do a study on this, but they didn’t because they are in the business of pumping the sand on the beach. What they are doing is changing the natural conditions, which is putting more people at risk.

Coastal research centers have done studies that linked beach replenishment projects to changes in the physical dynamics of the beach. These projects change the angle of the sand, causing steeper slopes and more waves. This leads to the sand bar disappearing and more dangerous waves. When the beach erodes, the descent is flatter. Many surfers and lifeguards have noticed the same pattern. We also need a lot more education on to make sure people aren’t swimming during the rip tides and give people information about what to do if they get caught in one like swimming parallel to the beach.fata

Army Corps may say there is no correlation, but they have never seen a beach they didn’t want to pump sand on. The problem is all of the people who say there is no connection are actually connected to the beach replenishment projects in some way. Back in 2008, there was almost as many dangerous rip currents and deaths. This was also a lot of beach replenishment happening between 2007-2008. As a result, Senator Lautenberg asked for an independent study and they never did one. It is time that this issue is really looked at seriously and independently before we continue with these dangerous projects.

While the Christie Administration has been out their denying the science of climate change, they have also denied the science on our beaches. Instead of building actual dunes to fortify our beaches and protect from storm events, the Christie Administration has pumped sand on a beach. These projects have given a false sense of security, while our taxpayer dollars are washed out to sea because during the next storm. We have even seen health risks from ponding water that can help breed mosquitoes that cause disease. The Christie Administration’s continuing denial of climate change and real science is a denial of our future. Instead of creating flood storage areas, moving people out of harm’s way, stopping flooding vulnerable areas, and elevating to safe levels, the Christie Administration has made us more vulnerable. Now we must determine if these projects are in fact causing more life-threatening rip currents before we move forward.

Jeff Tittel,

Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club 

[These letters represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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